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“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”–Ralph Waldo Emerson

A compilation SEPTEMBER 22, 2015

Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.—Acts 17:16–17 1

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The effectiveness of Paul’s evangelism was not just a consequence of divine calling, but also of careful planning. An important principle he applied to his listeners was to teach what is unknown by means of what is known. If our attempts to communicate something new begin with the unfamiliar, we will almost certainly confuse our listeners and leave them disinterested. But if we start with what is already familiar and carefully build a bridge to the unfamiliar, we are likely to gain interest and understanding.

Paul looked for a common platform on which he could build a bridge that would take his listeners from their familiar territory to the unfamiliar truths of the Gospel. … In the one recorded Scripture of Paul preaching in a synagogue, he connects with his Jewish hearers by addressing them as ‘children of Abraham’, and begins to talk about the dramatic deliverance from Egypt under Moses, all very familiar territory to them. To a group of women in Philippi, worshipping a God they didn’t know, Paul joins them and introduces a positive message about a God they could know. To the pagans of Lystra, he finds common ground in creation, and how a living God sustains it all, putting food on their tables and joy in their hearts. To Greek philosophers in Athens, he refers to futile attempts of men to express God in terms of gold, silver and stone, and tactfully leads them to a God who gives life and breath.

When reaching people for Christ, our starting point should be in the thinking, culture and presuppositions of our hearers, so that we first get into their territory. Then, like Paul, tactfully building that bridge that will lead them to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.—Charles Price

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Jesus indicated that our problem is heart trouble. The greatest need of our great cities at this moment is evangelism. The apostle Paul stood in the heart of pagan, secular, immoral, and violent Corinth and said, “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”2 The proclamation of the Gospel is still the desperate need of men today. We are never going to reverse the moral trends without a spiritual awakening, and we are never going to have a spiritual awakening until the cross of Jesus Christ is central in all our teaching, preaching and practice.—Billy Graham

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You can't keep the birds from flying over your head, but you can sure keep them from building a nest in your hair!

It is impossible for the Devil to win over you unless you give in to him. "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world" (1Jn.4:4). The only way he can win is if you quit, give up, give in, surrender, stop fighting. If you keep fighting You keep winning!

So don't even let the ol' camel get his nose in or he'll soon have the entire tent! "Give no place to the Evil One!"






Anchor TFI

By David Brandt Berg

We are all in a holy war together. We are fighting together for our faith, truth, and freedom! We are determined that the poor of the world shall be fed, clothed, housed, and be enabled to labor in freedom, peace, health, and happiness to obtain their needs. We have pledged ourselves to lay down our lives in love for our brothers and sisters around the world. We have dedicated our all that all may be free to live lives of happiness together in cooperation.

But we must not only know what we are fighting for and against, but also how we must fight. This is not a war of weapons and armies and bodies of men. This is not a war between man and man, nation and nation, race and race, rich and poor, socialism and capitalism, political and economic systems, societies and cultures, religions and faiths. This is not a war of hate and bitterness, killing and slaughter, revenge and vindictiveness, torture, dying and death.

This is not a war for the bodies and possessions and lands and pride of man. Such carnal wars of man have seldom ever settled anything or solved the basic problems of mankind. They have usually only resulted in more suffering, more agony, more pain, more hunger, more slavery, more bitterness, more vengeance, more fighting, more torture, more privation, more destruction, more waste, more misery, more poverty, and more death.

Ours is a war of the spirit in faith and love to win the minds and hearts and spirits and save the souls as well as the bodies of men. Ours is a war to free men from the evils of the spirit and mind and heart of man which cause them to be selfish and unloving and vicious and cruel and unkind to each other, man’s inhumanity to man because of his lack of understanding of how to be happy due to his lack of knowledge of the love and faith and power of God and loving laws of God designed for our eternal happiness.

Therefore we must fight the much greater warfare of the spirit with the far more powerful weapons of faith, love, compassion, and words and deeds of kindness. We must free men from fear with faith. We must free them from hatred with love. We must free them from sorrow with joy. We must free them from war with peace. We must free them from poverty with plenty, and we must free them from death with eternal heavenly happiness.

The salvation of man must be for all if it is for any and must include everyone if all are to be happy. Though ninety-and-nine were in the fold, the Good Shepherd was not content until the last lost one was found and saved and rescued.1

We must tell all, even though all will not listen nor respond nor be saved. We owe the message of God and His life of love to every man.

If God be for us, no man can stand against us, however great their power or numbers. “Have faith in God.”2 “If God be for us, who can be against us?”3 If you do good, who is he that will stop you?4 None can withstand the power of God nor His forces of heaven if He is on your side and you are on His, doing that which is right.

“If God be for us, who can be against us?”5 We are bound to win, for God is with us, and we fight a holy, right, and just war of faith and love for God and others, and love never fails, for God is love.6

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but His words shall never pass away.7 They are settled forever in heaven8, and none can deny nor defy them forever. So use them and spread them and His love through every means at your command to give people light and hope and life and love and peace and heavenly happiness forever.

You are no fool to give a life you cannot keep for a love you will never lose.

1 Luke 15:4.
2 Mark 11:22.
3 Romans 8:31.
4 1 Peter 3:13.
5 Romans 8:31.
6 1 Corinthians 13:8; 1 John 4:8.
7 Mark 13:31.
8 Psalm 119:89.





DeepTruths TFI

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2 KJV

By David Berg Sep 22, 2014

“The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voiceand come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life.”—John 5:28–291

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.”—1 John 3:22

When Jesus comes, a wonderful miracle takes place—the Resurrection. All of those who belong to Him, all the saved, will then have a glorious resurrection—either from the dead or instantly changed and raised from the very face of the earth, from the living. Then we will all go to be with the Lord to have the great Marriage Supper of the Lamb, while the Wrath of God is being poured out upon those who remain on the earth.

His return and our consequent resurrection are spoken of many times throughout both the Old and New Testaments. Many times we’re told in various ways of this great, apocalyptic event. Although the word “rapture” itself is not found in the Scriptures, it is a handy little word because it sums up the coming of the Lord in the clouds, the sounding of the trumpet, the dead being raised, the living saved being translated, and all of us being gathered together to be with the Lord.

The apostle Paul gives a very revelatory insight into this marvelous event in 1 Thessalonians, chapter 4: “I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.”3 He says, “I don’t want you to be so ignorant that you don’t know what’s going to happen when Jesus comes. I don’t want you to sorrow over death, not realizing there’s going to be a resurrection.”

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.”4 Those who are asleep in Jesus is an oft-used expression and it means “the dead in Christ,” as explained in verse 16 of this same chapter—those who have died in the Lord, born-again Christians who have already gone on to be with Jesus. All of our dear loved ones who have departed from this life are already with the Lord. Their bodies, you might say, are asleep and have gone back to dust if they’ve been there long enough. But they themselves, their spirits, are not sleeping in the grave. They’re with Jesus. “For to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”5 They’ve “departed to be with Christ, which is far better.”6

Jesus will come back with the spirits of all these departed saints so that they can pick up their new resurrected bodies. God wants to prove that He can raise the dead, so He’s going to raise them from the dead, literally, but in a new body—a new resurrected body like the one He had when He rose. That’s going to be beautiful! Their new, glorified, supernatural, resurrection bodies are going to rise and are going to get together with their spirits at the moment of Christ’s coming.

So the dead in Christ are going to come back with the Lord, and He says that “we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord”—those of us who are still living when Jesus comes—“shall not prevent them which are asleep.”7 The literal meaning here is that they which are alive will not precede or go before them which are asleep. The Lord says He’s going to let them be resurrected and rise first. Those who have died in the Lord and have gone on to be with Him go first.

1 NKJV.
2 Unless otherwise indicated, all Bible verses are from the King James Version.
3 1 Thessalonians 4:13.
4 1 Thessalonians 4:14.
5 2 Corinthians 5:8.
6 Philippians 1:23.
7 1 Thessalonians 4:15.






Anchor TFI

It's claimed 2/3 of the widowed have had dreams in which their deceased spouse visits them. (Hence the term )

These dreams differ from ordinary dreams in several ways...
They are very realistic - usually devoid of fantastic & absurd qualities.
They are very lucid - having a feeling of reality & immediacy.
They are easily remembered, and remembered for a long period of time...
more like a the memory of an actual event.

This subject came up in another venue, the CS Poetry Corner. (CSers are a talented bunch, are we not. )
The poem, "Was It Really You", by Abby1963, can be seen in the "poetry" area.
For those unfamiliar, it is a quite realistic portrayal of the phenomenon.

So...
Have any of you had such an experience?
What do you believe is the origin/cause?
What was your feeling about/response to the dream?
Have you experienced any other similar phenomena?

BTW- This is not exclusive to the widowed...
Others report such visits from parents, grandparents, siblings & such.

And, before you ask...Yes, I'm in that 2/3 group.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:13 NIV

There are absolutes

In every field of science, math, art, music, history, philosophy, and religion, they have tried to destroy confidence and faith in the absolute to try to shake your faith that there is anything sure, anything that is necessarily so or true or right. The whole theme song is: “It ain’t necessarily so. The things that you read in that Bible, they ain’t necessarily so. Beginning with the Bible, that ain’t necessarily so; and history, it ain’t necessarily so; religion, it ain’t necessarily so; and philosophy ain’t necessarily so.” They’ve gone right on down the line through everything—“creation ain’t necessarily so; music, art, none of them are necessarily so, because there ain’t no so. There’s nothing that’s true, so there is no truth,” in other words.

Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” Jesus answered him and said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”7 So if nothing is so, then nothing is true, then there is no truth and no Christ! So to disprove the existence of God, they had to disprove the existence of truth and rhyme and reason, order, plan, laws, rules, etc. …

A revolutionary education today would be back-to-God education, and that’s really revolutionary in this modern day and age! Back to God in creation. Back to real faith in religion, back to creation in science, back to a plan in history, beauty in art, harmony in music, laws in learning to read, right and wrong in behavior, and order in government and God in everything—the Creator of all things, the designer of everything, the planner—so that life again means something. …

Back to reasoning, back to a pattern for existence made by a divine designer who makes the plans according to rules, brings about order, and who gives meaning to the universe and purpose to the planets, and love to our hearts and peace to our minds, and health to our bodies and rest to our spirits, and happiness to our lives and joy to our souls, and the wisdom to know that “the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom,”8 and that mere knowledge is not enough, but how to use it is more important for the glory of God.

We must see God in everything to give it meaning, reason, purpose, plan, design, and a goal, and peace and order and a design for living given us by the great designer in His rules and laws, rights and wrongs and absolutes, without which there can be no peace and no order and no happiness.

Thank God for the absolutes and the rules of the Ruler, that we may know the difference between right and wrong and therefore find happiness through His love and His loving laws and reasonable rules. May God help you to “know Him, whom to know is life eternal.”9 And absolute!—David Brandt Berg

7 John 14:6.
8 Proverbs 9:10.
9 John 17:3.
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WE'RE ALWAYS ON TRIAL WITH THE LORD, PASSING TESTS ALL OUR LIVES.

The Lord will never allow us to be tempted above that which we are able to bear, but He does let the Devil test our faith to see if we'll really flee to the Lord and quote His Word and take a stand of faith.

With every grade, the tests get harder and the choices more difficult! The more God can trust you to stand the test, the tougher it's going to be. But no matter how great your trial may be, if you have faith to trust in God to bring you out of that difficulty, you won't murmur or complain! You'll rejoice and praise God and thank Him, even for the trial, because you know He is able to save you!--Like Job! Job didn't suffer for his sins at all! He suffered to prove his faith and his love of God. And when Job passed the test and gave the final right answer: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him," he got his diploma! (Job 13:15)



Anchor TFI

Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD. Obadiah 1:4 KJV

By David Berg Nov 17, 2014

God has a very special place for each of us in His kingdom, and He has a special job, a unique mission for you which only you can fulfill. But there’s only one way that you will be able to find His will for your life—much less be able to fulfill it—and that is to be truly yielded to Him. Only then will you be able to let your dust become diamonds that show the beauty of God, bringing the Lord’s wonderful life, love, and light to as many folks as you can.

People have got to see Jesus coming through you. But if your witnessing is too full of you, they’ll just go on and figure that what you’re saying is a waste of time. This is why He tells us that it’s “not by (your) might, nor by (your) power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord. For we have this treasure (the Lord’s Spirit and His love) in earthen (fleshly) vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”1

Jesus even said of our work for Him, “My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”2 So we don’t ever have to worry about carrying too much or pulling too big a load. We just need to learn to submit ourselves to Jesus and let His Spirit work through us. As we “cast our cares upon Him and abide in Him,” we “can do all things through Christ.” Hallelujah!3

Jesus says, “Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without Me ye can do nothing.”4

“Not My will, but Thine be done”

To find the will of God in our lives, we have to be yielded to the Lord. Jesus gave us the best example of yieldedness when He knelt down in the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed, “Not my will, but thine be done.”5 Submission is the first step.

God’s Word says, “I beseech you, brethren, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove”—or know—“what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.”6 The first requirement in finding God’s will is placing your mind, body, and will on God’s altar. As someone has said, “The major part of knowing the will of God is to be prepared to do it before you even know what it is!”

If you’re a Christian, if you’re saved and have Jesus in your heart, you are not your own. Jesus bought and paid for you and your salvation with His own blood. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”7 You don’t just belong to yourself, you belong to the Lord. “Know ye not that ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”8

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 KJV

Although He bought and paid for us with His own blood, Jesus didn’t buy us just to make us His slaves, His servants who have to do what He commands. He said, “I have not called you servants, but friends.”9

1 Zechariah 4:6; 2 Corinthians 4:7.
2 Matthew 11:30.
3 John 5:30; 15:5; 1 Peter 5:7; Philippians 4:13.
4 John 15:4–5.
5 Matthew 26:39.
6 Romans 12:1–2.
7 1 Peter 1:18–19 NIV.
8 1 Corinthians 6:19–20.
9 John 15:15.






Anchor TFI

He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. Luke 1:53 KJV

A compilation Jul 14, 2015

It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.—Augustine of Hippo

Gracious humility

We can make the case that God’s very nature and his interaction with humans express gracious humility and astonishing condescension.

First, we should get clear on definitions of “pride” (an inflated view of self) and “humility” (an appropriate acknowledgment and realistic self-assessment). … We should ask, “How do you define pride?” [In pride] we promote an image of ourselves because we suspect that others won’t accept who we really are. Pride is actually a lie about a person’s identity or achievements. To be proud is to live in a world propped up with falsehoods about oneself, taking credit where credit isn’t due.

Now, we’re not talking about being gratified or “taking pride in” one’s work (as Paul did as an apostle1) or “being proud of” a person’s progress in faith2 and in the proper use of God-given abilities. In all of this, we recognize the grace of God that makes these things possible. Of course, to “boast in the Lord”3 and in the cross of Christ4 puts into proper perspective our deep dependence on God. The pull-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps type of self-reliance is an expression of pride—a failure or refusal to acknowledge our proper place before God. Grace is given to the humble, not the proud.

Humility, on the other hand, involves having a realistic assessment of oneself. This includes recognizing not only weaknesses but also strengths. Obviously, it’s delusional to claim you’ve invented aluminum foil or Post-it notes when you really haven’t. But it’s also delusional to say you “really can’t play piano all that well” when you’re an award-winning pianist who regularly performs with the Cleveland Orchestra or the London Philharmonic! This would be a false humility that’s equally out of touch with reality—not to mention (possibly) being a backdoor attempt to get others’ attention! A truly humble person won’t deny his abilities, but he will at the same time acknowledge that his gifts come from God and that he can’t take credit for them. So to be humble is to know our place before God.—Paul Copan

To thine own self be true

As Shakespeare said, “If thou canst to thine own self be true, thou canst not be false to any man.” How true! If you’re honest with yourself, you will be honest with the Lord, your spouse, and those around you.

The hardest one to confess your faults to is yourself! We hate even to admit to ourselves our own mistakes, sins, and shortcomings, because it is sometimes so discouraging, humbling, and humiliating. So we try to excuse ourselves to ourselves, and defend ourselves from ourselves, and exonerate and absolve ourselves from sin, so that we can stand to face ourselves—but this only tends to make matters worse, because when we’re not honest with ourselves, and we keep on trying to fool ourselves, we try to do the same with God and others, and the result is one awful mess. You make a mess of your own life, hurt those associated with you, and hurt God most of all, as well as hinder your testimony and ministry. May God help us all to be honest with ourselves, others, and God. It will help keep us from being false to any man. Falsification is the product of pride, an effort to hide the awful truth of which we are ashamed.

1 2 Corinthians 10:17.
2 2 Corinthians 7:14; 9:3–4.
3 2 Corinthians 10:17.
4 Galatians 6:14.

Walking in the Light 1John 1:9 KJV
(John 8:12-30)

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."




Anchor TFI [Posted Video - Cyborg Girl² - The Tourist]

And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Ephesians 4:30 (KJV)

His resurrection body was made of flesh and bones. But of course it was quite a bit different from the bodies we now have. And when He told doubting Thomas, “Put your fingers into the nail prints in My hand and thrust your hand into the wound in My side, and be not faithless but believing,”18 it showed that it must have been like the same body He died with if the wounds were still there.

When Jesus comes and that great trumpet sounds, you’re going to trade in your present, old, worn-out, fleshly, earthly model for an entirely new heavenly model like the body He had after His resurrection. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.”19 When Jesus comes, we shall see Him as He is, face to face, and be like Him.

The supernatural, miraculous, resurrected, transformed bodies of the future are going to be like the angels of God. “Neither can they die anymore: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.”20

But just because you’ve received your new resurrection body, remember, it’s still going to be you. You’re even going to look a lot the same, only better, much better. But it’s going to be you, the same body; otherwise it wouldn’t be a resurrection. And if someone’s natural, fleshly body has completely returned to the dust, or if they were cremated and their ashes sprinkled over a vast area, if God has to take every single proton, electron and neutron and make up the atoms again and bring them back together from the dirt or from the ashes or from the smoke or from whatever and wherever it is, He will bring it back together.

“For if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you. For God, who hath raised up the Lord, will also raise us up by His own power. And when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”21

18 John 20:27.
19 1 John 3:2.
20 Luke 20:36.
21 Romans 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:54–55, 57.

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Always do what the Spirit leads you to do at the time -- you may never have another chance.

We're in a battle, and when there's a sudden opportunity to take advantage of a breakthrough, an open door in a certain direction where God is leading, we have to seize the opportunity quickly, even if it means some serious sacrifices on our part. -- If God says "Go!" and it's His Will, you'd better go, no matter what, and He'll take care of you! Don't look at the waves! Keep your eyes on Jesus! -- When God says "Now! Right now!" you'd better obey Him in that split second of that golden opportunity! -- Delayed obedience can become total disobedience if prolonged too long, if you flounder around and make up your mind too late!

So may God help us always to be sensitive in the Spirit and do what He commands! -- Keep close to the Holy Spirit and remember to do what He leads so you'll be sure to stay on the right line and on the right track.

Lord, bless and give us the divine anointing of Thy Spirit, the mantle of Thy power. We could ask no more for ourselves, Lord, because then we know we'll always be on the right track led by Thy Spirit.





Anchor TFI

The other day, one of my friends posted the following on their wall: "Your beliefs don't make you a better person - your behavior does."

For me, that made a lot of sense. It isn't what we believe that defines us, it's how we behave. I understand why the anti-religious become so incensed at some of the religious. There have been so many things done in the name of God that are so wrong and un-Godly that one wonders how people can possibly justify it to themselves, nevermind anyone else.

But, being human, we can and do justify anything and everything we do, no matter how wrong it may be to others, as long as it satisfies our own wants.

Personally, it doesn't matter to me whether someone believes in God or not. It does matter to me when someone espouses their beliefs but their behaviour is contradictory. It does matter to me when beliefs are used to restrict any freedom. It does matter to me when beliefs are used to justify war, greed, hate and separatism.

I've known people that are overtly religious that use God as an excuse and a crutch. Their lives aren't all they want them to be, because God wants it that way. It's God's will. Nothing is their fault or their responsibility - that's what God wants.

I do take issue with that. If God gave us free will, then God doesn't make us do anything - we make the choice to say and do what we do. It's not God's will - it's our own. We are responsible for how we feel, what we do and what we say. We are responsible for what we think. We aren't responsible for what others feel, think, say or do - only for ourselves. But don't you enjoy being around people that are happy, up-lifting and motivating? Don't you enjoy spending time with those that find the positives in you and don't you find that if you're around positive people, that it's easy to see the positives in others and in life?

Personally, if someone is de-motivating, negative and insulting, I don't care what they believe - they aren't fit to be in my life. I'm only here once, and if I can help make this world a better place by giving whatever I can to others and helping others to feel good about themselves and to be the best they can be, and by being the best I can be, then I will have lived.

As humans, we have the capacity to lift each other up and encourage each other to be the absolute best we can be. We can choose to see the strengths we each have, to encourage those strengths, and to overcome our weaknesses. We also have the ability to rip each other to shreds, to stomp on anything positive, and destroy each other, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically.

And it doesn't necessarily take a belief in anything to do that. For me, what people believe is simply an opinion. It's neither right nor wrong, it just is. What they believe is right for them. Just like what I believe, is right for me - as long as no one else is being harmed. Spirituality is not a competition. No one likes to have beliefs shoved down their throats, regardless of what those beliefs are.

It becomes 'wrong' when they attempt to force their beliefs on the rest of society. It becomes wrong when people hold themselves as 'better' than others because of their beliefs, but behave in a manner completely diametrically opposed to what love, kindness and compassion is. It becomes wrong when some people are excluded, and that exclusion is justified in the name of their beliefs.

Those that believe in religion find what they need in it and it works for them. I respect their commitment to it. Another common meme is 'Religion is for those who are afraid of going to hell. Spirituality is for those who've already been there.' This implies that religious people are not spiritual, which is completely untrue. As with any belief system, there are those that can quote beliefs, but don't actually practice them, and those that let their behaviour be their spiritual indicator.

Bottom line? Talk is cheap - behaviour tells all.

This is an excerpt from a book I was reading. I just edited it a bit so that I won't attack any religion and added few of my own thoughts.

A local journalist asked me “What would you do, if someone took one of your Holy Books and flushed it down the toilet?”

Without hesitation I answered “Sir, if someone took a Holy Book and flushed it down the toilet, the first thing I would do is call a plumber!”


Then went further to explain that someone may blow up many statues, burn down temples, churches and mosques or kill believers or non believers, they may destroy all of this but I will never allow them to destroy my faith, my belief and who I am as a person.

You may flush a Holy Book down a toilet, but you will never flush forgiveness, peace love and compassion down a toilet.

The book is not the religion, nor the statue, the building or the priest. These are only “containers.”

What does the book teach us? What does the statue represent? What qualities are the priests supposed to embody? This is the “content”.

When we recognize the difference between the container and the contents, then we will preserve the contents even when the container is being destroyed.

We can print more books, build more temples and statues and even train more religious figures, but when we lose our love and respect for others and ourselves and replace it with violence, hatred, and intolerance then the whole religion has gone down the toilet.


Religion is what we make what it is. So let's not try to make our religion what is flushed down in a toilet.

Be the content. !!!!


Wishing everyone a peaceful week ahead!!!!